You’re a Blogger, Not an Essayist

While I don’t recall how I found it, earlier this week I ran across You’re a Blogger, Not an Essayist by Barry Hess, and a couple of points stuck out to me.

First off - go read Barry’s blog post, it’s worth it. I’ll wait.

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You’re back? Good, on to my thoughts!

You don’t need to labor over your posts. You don’t need to have perfect grammar or spelling. You don’t need to leave a post in draft for seven months, pouring over research. (Though you can if you want!) You don’t really need to have an idea.

Just write. Then share.

As I’ve noted in other recent blog posts, learning to just spend a short time putting my thoughts down in a blog post and then publishing is something I’m intentionally working on. My perfectionism streak causes me to often a) doubt that my thoughts are worth posting, and b) spend a lot of time debating phrasing, honing my points, etc.

But you know what?

You don’t have to be an essayist. … Don’t let those essayists discourage you from blogging.

Barry’s right. There are essayists, some of whom write amazing essays for their blog, and I greatly appreciate reading them. But that’s not me. It could be if I really wanted to spend all of my time writing, but that’s not the path I chose in life. My blog is a way to share my thoughts and interests with others, and sometimes my future self, and a way to start conversations.

And so, with that, I’ll thank Barry for blogging and giving me something to think on and blog about (thanks Barry!), and conclude this short post with Barry’s closing thoughts:

Just write. Just blog.